Content
Growing cucumbers in a barrel allows you to get a tasty harvest with minimal effort, even if there is not enough space on your plot. The method is quite simple and is suitable for experienced gardeners and beginners.
Pros and cons of the method
Growing cucumbers in a barrel is popular due to the numerous advantages of the method:
- The container can be placed anywhere in the garden with good lighting, even if the soil in the selected area is not suitable for the crop.
- One barrel can accommodate at least 2-3 cucumber bushes, including different varieties.
- In a closed container, plants are much less likely to suffer from fungi and pests than in open ground.
- When grown in a barrel, cucumbers are more convenient to feed, and less fertilizer is consumed.
- In a closed container, weeds do not interfere with the development of garden crops.
- Watering cucumbers in a barrel is more convenient than in a garden bed.
- It is easier to insulate the container when return frosts occur.
- Cucumbers ripening in a barrel at the final stages of cultivation do not lie on the ground and do not get dirty.
- In a small enclosed space near the roots of plants it is easier to loosen the soil.
Despite the numerous advantages of the method, it has some disadvantages. They also need to be taken into account before planting cucumbers:
- The soil in a closed container dries out faster, so you have to water the bushes more often.
- A metal barrel can get very hot in the sun and even cause burns to the root system of plants.
- To fill a capacious container, it is necessary to prepare a large amount of nutrient substrate.
- Purchasing a barrel requires additional investment.
If there is enough space in the garden, most summer residents prefer to grow cucumbers in the standard way - in beds or in a greenhouse. But if the area is small, installing a high capacity becomes a convenient way out of the situation.
Cucumbers in a barrel additionally decorate the garden plot
What varieties of cucumbers to plant in a barrel
Growing cucumbers in a barrel is practiced not only to save space, but also to speed up the harvest. Therefore, it is recommended to plant, first of all, early-ripening hybrids with large fruits in a closed container. These include:
- Prestige F1;
- Competitor;
- Swallow F1;
- Muromsky 36;
- Fontana F1;
- Cupid F1;
- Connie;
- Tempo F
It is better to grow cucumber varieties in a barrel that support pollination with the help of bees or form ovaries on their own.
When to plant cucumbers in a barrel
When using a barrel to grow cucumbers, you do not need to wait for the soil to warm up completely. The soil in a closed container is always warmer than in the beds.
In order for cucumbers to successfully take root and germinate quickly, it is recommended to sow them when the daytime temperature is about 15 ° C. In the middle zone, the right time usually occurs in mid-April; in the Urals and Siberia, the timing may shift until the second ten days of May.
How to grow cucumbers in a barrel at the dacha
You can plant cucumbers in a barrel at your dacha step by step using a simple scheme. The main attention should be paid to the container itself and the soil for the culture.
Barrel selection and preparation
It is best to take a container for growing cucumbers with a volume of 200 liters. Such a container will be relatively easy to fill with soil, caring for the plantings will be simple, and the capacity of the barrel will replace 2 m2 vegetable garden
Containers can be made of metal, wood or plastic. In this case, it is not necessary to choose a new barrel; on the contrary, it is better to take a container without a bottom and with slits on the sides. The holes will provide air access to the soil inside and help remove excess moisture. But a whole unused barrel for growing will have to be pre-drilled on all sides.
Soil preparation
To properly plant cucumbers in barrels, you first need to prepare the soil. When growing vegetables, you cannot fill the container from top to bottom with fertile soil. Before planting cucumbers, it is necessary to pour three types of substrate into the barrel in layers:
- drainage and strengthening layer - 1/3 of the barrel is filled with fallen leaves, plant debris, weed tops, chopped branches;
- nutrient layer - the container is filled with manure and fruit and vegetable waste on top of the previous substrate;
- soil layer - a 10-20 cm mixture of garden soil, peat or vermiculite, and rotted compost is poured into a barrel.
The substrate occupying the upper part of the container must be disinfected from fungi and pests. The soil is first sifted several times and then treated with Fitosporin or a light pink infusion of potassium permanganate.
When filling the barrel with substrate, you must leave about 7 cm of free space to the edges of the container
Which place to choose
For rapid development, cucumbers need warmth and good lighting, so the growing barrel is placed in a sunny area of the garden. It is also necessary to provide protection from wind and drafts - on one side the container should be under the cover of a high wall or fence.
However, you should not place the container in a very dark corner - if there is not enough light, the cucumbers will develop poorly. It is important for the gardener to make sure that there is easy access to the barrel from all sides.
Seed preparation
Descriptions and photos of step-by-step planting of cucumbers in a barrel show that it is not only the soil that needs preliminary preparation. In order for a garden crop to quickly produce a bountiful harvest, it is necessary to treat the seeds according to a special scheme. Preparation of material for growing consists of several stages:
- Calibration Cucumber grains are poured into warm water and left for 5-7 minutes, and then transferred to a saline solution prepared at the rate of 6 g of powder per 1 liter of liquid. The floating seeds are thrown away, since they will not be able to germinate anyway. The grains that have sunk to the bottom are washed in running water and dried.
- Hardening. The procedure allows you to increase the endurance of cucumbers and make them more resistant to external influences.The seeds need to be wrapped in a piece of damp cloth and placed in the refrigerator for three days, and then removed and left warm for another ten hours.
- Disinfection. Even before growing in a barrel, cucumbers must be treated against fungi and pests. The seeds are immersed for several minutes in a disinfecting solution of 1% potassium permanganate mixed with 1% acetic acid. After this, the planting material is washed with warm water.
- Soak. To speed up germination, the seeds are again placed in a damp piece of gauze and left in a warm room for a day. During this time, the grains will swell properly and subsequently sprout faster.
At this stage, the cucumber seeds are ready to be planted in a barrel. But if desired, they can be additionally treated with a solution of wood ash. About 5 g of powder is diluted in 800 ml of water, the liquid is brought to homogeneity and the planting material is poured in for two hours. Ash infusion will strengthen the immunity of seeds and also supply them with nutrients that accelerate germination.
Instead of wood ash infusion, you can use any growth stimulant to treat cucumber seeds.
Landing rules
Planting cucumbers in a barrel of compost is no more difficult than sowing seeds in the ground. Usually the procedure takes even less time, since the gardener has to work with a small area. The diagram looks like this:
- A few days before planting cucumbers, water the soil in the barrel thoroughly and wait until it subsides slightly. After this, fertile soil is added on top to the previous level.
- The soil in the growing container is loosened, and then holes about 3 cm deep are made in it.
- The seeds are laid out in a circle at intervals of 15 cm and sprinkled with nutrient substrate and humus on top.
Cucumbers are not watered immediately on the day of planting. The soil in the barrel is moistened only after 24 hours. In this case, warm, settled water is used, and to prevent the stream from washing out the holes, use a garden watering can with a fine sieve on the spout. After watering, the growing barrel is covered with cling film to create a mini-greenhouse and the polyethylene is fixed with twine along the edge of the container.
On average, 5-10 seeds can be placed in one cucumber barrel
Features of care
Growing cucumbers in barrels in open ground is not associated with significant difficulties. Caring for the crop is carried out in approximately the same way as in a greenhouse or in a regular garden bed.
Watering
When growing cucumbers, they require high-quality moisture, but it is important to ensure that the soil in the barrel does not turn sour. In the absence of precipitation, watering is carried out twice a week, the top layer of soil should dry out slightly.
It is necessary to use settled water with a soft composition, pre-heated in the sun. You need to water the cucumbers in a barrel so that the moisture is absorbed not only in the center of the container, but also along the edges.
Top dressing
When grown in a barrel, cucumbers need fertilizer in the same way as when grown in a garden bed. For the first time, fertilizing is carried out two weeks after the emergence of seedlings and removal of the covering film. You can use superphosphate and potassium sulfide - the minerals are dissolved in water for irrigation in the amount of 20 g and 10 g, respectively, per 10 liters of liquid.
Also, when grown in a barrel, vermicompost becomes a convenient fertilizer. The product is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3 and 250 ml of the finished product is added to each plant.
Formation and garter of bushes
Cucumbers in a closed container need gartering and shaping.When grown on a support, bushes are easier to harvest; besides, the plantings become less dense, are better ventilated, and are less likely to suffer from fungi and pests.
Most often, a stick about 1 m long is dug into the middle of the barrel, a crosspiece is fixed on top of it, and strong twine is attached to the latter. As they grow, the cucumbers will first wrap around the central pole, and then move to the wide part of the structure and form a kind of green dome over the barrel.
You can also dig several poles around the perimeter of the container and stretch a rope of 2-3 tiers between them in a circle. As they grow, the bushes are attached first to the lower level, and then to subsequent ones, preventing the stems from lodging.
Tying cucumbers to a support is carried out after the bushes have 5-6 leaves.
As for formation, when grown in a container, cucumbers grow into one stem, and the stepsons and flowers in the first five nodes are completely removed. In this case, the plantings do not thicken, produce larger fruits, and it becomes easier to care for them.
Possible problems during cultivation
The technology of planting cucumbers in a barrel at the dacha does not provide absolute protection against possible problems. Most often, when growing, gardeners face two difficulties:
- Cucumber leaves are turning yellow. The cause is usually lack of sunlight, lack of moisture or nutritional deficiencies. It is necessary to provide better care for the plants, and if necessary, move the barrel to a brightly lit place.
- Few ovaries.Flowering of cucumbers without fruiting is usually caused by the fact that male buds form on the plant before female ones. Most often, the problem occurs when growing crops from fresh seeds. To eliminate it, you can use grains that are 2-3 years old, which will bear ovaries before barren flowers.
In some cases, excess nitrogen in the soil interferes with fruiting. If the bushes produce too many barren flowers to the detriment of the ovary, it is necessary to urgently treat the soil with phosphorus or wood ash.
Diseases and pests
The method of growing cucumbers in a barrel is considered safe for vegetable crops - bushes rarely suffer from illnesses. But some fungi still pose a threat to plantings:
- anthracnose - first pale green and then brown dry spots appear on the leaves;
For anthracnose, you need to spray cucumbers with Bordeaux mixture 1%
- bacteriosis - the fungus leaves small marks on the greenery and on the plates, does not always lead to the death of the bushes, but makes the crop unsuitable for consumption;
Bacteriosis of cucumbers is often transmitted through seeds
- root rot - cucumber leaves turn yellow and wither, the stem rots or begins to become woody;
In the early stages of root rot, cucumbers can be treated with Zircon or Trichocin
- aphids - insects tightly cling to the shoots and plates of bushes on the underside and suck the juices from the plants.
Soap solution and Actellik help against aphids
Controlling humidity and regularly loosening the soil can protect cucumbers in a barrel from pests and fungi. Before planting and growing, it is necessary to disinfect the seeds and soil.If one of the bushes in the barrel is severely damaged by fungus, it must be urgently destroyed to preserve neighboring plants.
Conclusion
Growing cucumbers in a barrel is a good way to save space in the garden. The method makes it easier to care for plantings; crops in closed containers are less likely to get sick and do not suffer from poor soil.
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